Una Dea Incontra Il Di Lei Amore
by That Flyingtoaster
Summary: A girl with an unremembered past. A boy who wants revenge on the two who stole his love for themselves. When a marigold-crowned goddess meets a boy who has the desire to protect all innocence, he falls in love again. How will Liam save his lost beloved? What happens to Aikaterine when she finds out she reminds Liam so much of Katrina Carys? (REWRITTEN of Child of the Underworld)
1. Prologo di Liam

The girl sat and blinked her eyes, trying to stay awake. She took a feeble breath, as if waiting for someone to help her in her deathbed. She laid in a dark, small room with a strange fountain in the corner. The wooden walls were old and moldy, no doubt creaky. The girl, though obviously close to dying, kept breathing. She was still waiting for something.

A door across the room from the girl opened with a quick creak, and light flooded the room. A tall boy raced into the room and knelt down next to the dying girl. "Why didn't you tell me?!" he asked her, his voice full of emotion. "I...I didn't want you...to worry...you don't...deserve that," the girl heaved with much effort. Her every word took all her remaining strength.

The boy fell silent, gazing into the girl's large, innocent eyes. Those eyes were so close to losing their mischief and glint to death. The boy stifled a sob, and asked quietly, "What will I do without you?"

The girl shook her head slightly and told him, "You never...needed me...I...needed you." Tears started to silently fall down the girl's small, heart-shaped face. Her hair, once full, long, and blond, was now stringy and dry from not bathing for days. Her whole body was dirty and weak with sweat and the labor of staying alive.

"I will never forgive Persephone for this!" the boy declared, filled with rage. "Never, Katrina! You didn't deserve this fate, and she forced it upon you! And Hades... I will avenge you." The girl shook her head, her tears creating a waterfall of her face. "Don't..." the girl managed, before running out of air. "My time..." she wheezed, "has come...I love you." With her final whisper, she was now gone.

The boy didn't try to hide his devastated sobbing any longer. His strong arms wrapped around the girl's lifeless, limp body. Her beautiful brown eyes were still wide open, seeming to stare up at the ceiling. The boy's silky auburn hair brushed against the girl's head as he cradled her.

The boy's brown eyes gazed into hers. This was his first time seeing someone dead up close, not in the movies. He felt as if, at any moment, she would sit up and start cracking her old jokes and teasing him. Any moment, she could gaze into his eyes, smiling, as she had so often before. But he was shaken with the new knowledge that she never would again. He would never hear her tinkling-bell laugh, or see her scowling at him when he annoyed her. She would never again wrap her thin but powerful arms around him in comfort.

She was gone forever. And it was all thanks to Persephone and the gods. Of course, the boy's own father, Apollo, was not to blame. He adored his father. But he would soon avenge his Katrina, no matter the price.

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**This is a collaboration with alfozogirl! She's the one who wrote this prologue! Also, she's the one who owns Liam and Katrina. :D I hope you like this story, so leave happy, little reviews for the both of us! _Una Dea Incontra Il Di Lei_ Amore is a REWRITTEN story of _The Child of the Underworld._****  
**


	2. Prologue di Aikaterine

A petite girl laughed as she ran down the hills of... Somewhere. She didn't know, to be honest. But it didn't bother the young girl, who looked to be the age of about fourteen. At least she was having fun, was what she thought. It was a happy place, and she felt an odd feeling of relief pour over her. Yet there was nothing to relieve. Or so she thought.

Turning around in the bundles of tall grass, she took an accidental glimpse of her arms. They were translucent, and a silvery-gray color. Fear took over her relief. Her already large eyes widened, making her look like a suprised owl. "No, no, NO!" she screamed, hoping someone would hear her cries. Was she dead? The girl didn't want to take that harsh reality.

The only person she could see as she frantically looked around was a boy who looked solemn and alone. Yet he didn't seem to hear her shouts, her pleading. The spirit thought everyone would go somewhere to stay at peace. Had she done something bad in her life? She couldn't think of anything that she had do- Wait.

No memories were intact.

No tears would come out of her eyes, even in the atmosphere of grief. All she could remember was the embrace of who knows who. Yet that didn't comfort her. It only reminded the young girl that she was dead.

Trying to forget the newfound information, she saw a patch of flowers near her. They were sitting near a stream that she was supposed to race to. But who was she to race anyway? As she took dainty steps towards the flowers, she realized they were a specific type. Marigold.

Immediately, she thought of them as a pretty flower. She could imagine herself happily gardening the golden plant. Sitting down next to them, she picked one from its roots, the flower turning into a monotone shade of gray. Cocking her head, the spirit picked several more, and weaved them. Soon, she made a marigold crown, and it went atop her head right after it was completed. Her lips turned up, giving in a secretive smile. A crown of grief and cruelty was what she made. Was someone grieving about her right now? Was someone cruel to her before?

A sharp pang of heartache filled her chest as she started sobbing for the one she missed. Yet she still kept her secretive smile, as if she knew they would come for her.

Only fragments of their name remained. But she wouldn't dare speak it. She wouldn't dare call out her loved one's name. It'd hurt her so much.

"Lee...Uh...?"

It will take some time to get used to this life.

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**This chapter was written by me, Flyingtoasters!**


	3. Chapter Uno

Blue Team's captain, Annabeth, was the most competitive person I knew. It was tradition at Camp Half Blood to play Capture the Flag, and the Athena Cabin almost always led one of the teams.

I waited for directions from Annabeth. "Liam!" she said, commanding. "Go on offense." Great. That meant I would be going to get the flag. I much preferred defense, where I could protect the flag. But I suspected she wanted the new kid, Percy, on defense for distraction. Clarisse, the other team leader for Ares, hated Percy's guts, and I wouldn't put it past her to put all her team's forces against him. I guess that would make it easier to get the flag.

Once the game started, I marched ahead with the other Apollo kids. Dylan, one of my best friends in the group, flashed me a grin and walked over. "What's the plan, amigo?" he asked. "Don't look at me," I replied, "Annabeth is the team captain. You on offense too?"

Dylan shook his head, "Nah, I'm defense. But everyone knows that the other team is heading straight for that new kid Percy. Let's go kick some asteroid." That was Dylan's favorite phrase. "Kick some asteroid." He didn't cuss, so he used other words in the place of swear words.

Dylan looked like your classic athletic Californian type. He had flippy blond hair that was just under overgrown. He had that kind of chiseled figure everyone pictured Californians with, and he was definitely a lady's man. What was odd about him was that his eyes were different colors. One was silver, the other a grassy green. They each had a mischievous glint in them.

We ran together through the brush and around trees, only to stumble into a clearing. We couldn't hear the shouts of the rest of the teams any longer, and we had gotten completely lost. Just my luck. I could never find anything. "Oh man!" I sighed, disappointed. Now we would miss out on the rest of the game while we tried to find our way back.

Then Dylan froze. "Dude..." he whispered, looking straight ahead. I followed his line of sight, and recognized a creature panting in the clearing. "It's a hellhound," I gasped in awe. The hellhound was injured in some way, and panting on the ground. Its black eyes stared into mine as if to say, "Please, help!"

I was unsure. Shouldn't the hellhound have been sent back to Tartarus if it was injured? I had never fought a hellhound before, so I didn't know. I couldn't even remember my mom, either, I had been at the Camp so long. So I was really confused as to what to do.

In our monster-fighting training, there was no specific lesson on what to do with an injured hellhound. Dylan wasn't going to be any help, I could see that. But I didn't know what to do any more than he did. "Um...should we...should we kill it?" I asked quietly. The hellhound whimpered, understanding.

Dylan finally moved forward, taking an arrow out of his sheath and preparing his bow. I could see him preparing to kill the thing, but something in its eyes made me grab his shoulder. "I think...I think we should help it," I told him hesitantly.

Dylan shrugged, and backed as far away from the hellhound as possible without leaving the clearing. I couldn't believe it. My whole life I had been taught to kill hellhounds, and here I was, about to heal one.

I approached the hellhound slowly, in case it decided to jump and attack, but it was so weak it could barely move. "Hey there, little doggy," I whispered gently. "What's wrong?" This was so awkward! The hellhound whimpered and moved his paw to show a bloody gash in its stomach. I bit my lip, and thought of what to do. Well, I thought, I should probably bandage the wound.

There was just one problem with that: I didn't have a bandage handy. I looked around, and noticed my shirt might work. Well, it was worth a try. I took off my shirt after taking off the armor from the game, and clumsily wrapped it around the wound. "Hey, Pickle," I called. Pickle was my nickname for Dylan, because everyone used to call him "Dyl-Pickle"

"Could you get some water for the...the hellhound?" I asked, in awe that I was actually helping a monster. Dylan had a canteen handy, so he tossed it over to me. I unscrewed the lid and drizzled the water into the hellhound's mouth, and he lapped it up happily. The hellhound seemed a lot more relaxed now, and it tried to roll over. It twisted at a weird angle and whimpered, remembering it's wound. Finally, it got to its feet.

What happened next, I definitely did not expect. The hellhound started glowing. Was this how they returned to Tartarus? I had never seen one die, so his was new. But, it wasn't dying. It was turning into a human figure. I blocked my eyes from the glow with my arm, until it finally it stopped.

When I uncovered my eyes, I could barely believe what I saw. The goddess Persephone herself stood before me. "I...I... What are you doing here?" I managed to choke out. I realized that wasn't the best way to react to a goddess. I didn't know what to do, so I knelt down on one knee and mumbled, "I mean... I-"

"No need," the goddess told me sharply yet kindly. She held her hand up, a gesture for me to stand. "This was a test," Persephone told me, with beautiful earthy brown eyes twinkling. "A test," she paused for effect, "which you passed with flying colors. You will do well for the task soon at hand." I blinked, but managed to grunt before Persephone disappeared quickly.

What I didn't know was that the task would change my life for the better.

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**This chapter was written by alfonzogirl!**

**Haha, three chapters in one day xD Anyway, I'll start writing our next chapter right away!**


	4. Chapter Due

It's been a number of days since I received life again. I had a mother, and father, and everything was just perfect.

Looking into the vanity mirror, a petite grin rose to my pale, pale, cheeks. It reflected a replica of my new room, everything being pastel greens and pure white. I combed my fingers through the long, dark hair I had, remembering when I was incarnated on Mount Olympus. I took off my flower crown, one made with my favorite flowers: Marigold.

"Aikaterine!" called my mother, using my new name.

Turning around, I smiled, replying, "Coming, mother!" Sprinting to the throne room where the only thing that wasn't so dark and dreary was my mother's throne, a flowery and beautiful thing to look at. I them started reminiscing the events that made me the princess of the Underworld.

_Before I was made into an actual human form, I was a spirit. A soul. A lost one, actually._

_I never knew what I looked like, of course. Mirrors did not reflect the image of a spirit. It was a disappointing rule to be honest, don't you think? And I didn't know that I was dead, I just believed that people were really rude when not listening to me._

_Yet how did I know I was a spirit? Easy._

_One look at myself, and I went off screaming._

_I remember when I was a newly turned soul, and saw my hands for the first time. They were a monotone gray, and it seemed that I resembled the black-and-white photographs of the mid-1940s. Course I was scared, but soon I got used to the feeling of not being noticeable. Lonely, yes, but not for too long. _

_I also remember the time when I tried to run through a rural field. Instead of feeling myself running through the tall grass, I more so passed through them. I soon realized it was something I could control, as I made a flower crown while sitting by a river. I was relieved at the fact that I could prank the lot of boys who kept vandalizing the grocery store near Lewis Street._

_Months (or was it a year?) passed by, and I then came upon a bizarre building while roaming the streets of Los Angeles. The sign said on the building said _

_DOA Recording Studios. Curious, I touched the doors and passed through._

_I entered the building without any second thoughts. Inside the building, I just couldn't believe my eyes. There were heaps of other souls, all looking dreary and tired. I gasped; The majority of them were children! _

_I tried to reach out to one of them, but the little boy didn't seem to notice me. Trying to find anything interesting, I took a glimpse at the door. _

_NO SOCICITORS._

_NO LOITERING._

_NO LIVING._

_Those were what was written on the doors. The last one disturbed me though. Was this the place all spirits went to when they died? I guessed so, but I had to ponder in why I didn't come here when I died. _

_It seemed that as I walked around no one seemed to notice me, yet they noticed each other. It irked me, but I pushed the fact away. If no one could notice me, which was odd, that meant I could enter the elevator without anyone knowing! _

_I giggled, and past through the elevator doors. It was crowded with many people who all held green boarding passes, and to say the least it was very nerve-racking. I've never experience so many people squashed against each other, one of those people being me! _

_I didn't know how I knew, but I realized I was traveling to the Underworld. It gave me chills, as of there were bad memories including me and "Hell". Ironic though; I had no memories. _

_The only person whom I gave interest in was a man who had chocolate-colored skin and slick, bleach-blond hair. It seemed he was the only person actually alive. He wore tortoise-shell shades, and a fancy, Italian suit. With only one glance, I already knew what to call him._

_Flavio._

_Just kidding, I saw that on his suit was his actual name. Charon it was. But Flavio is a better-fitting name, don't you think? Moving on, he shut the doors and put a key card in a slot in the elevator panel. _

_We started descending, but soon enough it felt like we were going forward. I closed my eyes to ease my headache, and when I opened them, "Flavio" looked like what others would say the Grim Reaper without the sickle. I could see his skull through his transparent face. _

_I blinked, and then instead of an elevator, I was on an oak-colored barge. We were then floating along the River Styx. _

_Some time later we reached the edge of the Underworld. I departed from the boat, and followed the lot of measly spirits on a very dull pathway._

_I didn't completely follow the path, getting lost as I went (somehow). I soon found a beautiful place full of flowers and green. It was literally the only place that was bright enough to make the Underworld seem a bit nicer. There were statues of children set in various places of the garden, but didn't pay attention to them. _

_The young woman tending the flowers took my ingenuous interest. _

_She was pretty, having beautiful, coiffed, black hair, and wore a long, pastel gown. She smiled at each of the flowers, as if they were the only thing that made her truly and purely happy. Alas, she still somehow made a bubble of vengeance pop inside of me, like she was half the reason I was who I was. A man appeared beside her, and put a pale, pale hand on her shoulder. The woman looked up to him with a now solemn face._

_They started conversing after that, but I couldn't catch onto anything. The couple started going inside the large, bronze and black castle just behind the garden. I laughed; They must've been very mesmerizing for me not to notice such a thing. _

_Weeks passed again, and I soon got to know the couple. Persephone and Hades, rulers of the Underworld. Greek goddess and god. Persephone had gotten special permission from her mother and father to be with Hades months early. She loved him, even with the mistakes done in the past. I admired her for that. I also had learned that she wanted a child. _

_A child to brighten up the dark palace she lived in. _

_Hades reluctantly agreed; he loved his wife. They traveled to a place called Mount Olympus, having contacted Hera, goddess of marriage and women, and Hestia, goddess of the hearth. I remember everything so clearly._

_The gods all sat at their thrones, the men looking at Hades with a sympathetic look, and the women looking at Persephone with great excitement. I had followed the two, being engulfed by their shadow travel. I realized that Mount Olympus looked so much like Hades' Palace, so much that it could be considered a carbon copy. _

_A goddess stood up from her golden throne, holding the presence of importance around her, yet still having a look that mother's would give to her children in her eyes. Hera, I believed she was named. _

_"Well, let's get started, brother and Persephone? Hestia, too, is among us to help."_

It seemed like eternity after what was like a maze of golden hallways that I finally located the throne room.

"What do you need, mother?" I smiled happily, looking at her with my amber eyes. I fiddled with the hem of my dress, feeling a bit jumpy. She smiled back, and patted my head. I was short for my physical age, fourteen. Mother stood several inches taller than I. Glancing at her with a curious look, she started explaining.

"Mother and Father are going to do some..." She looked over to Father, who had a somewhat crabby expression. "Business with your uncles. None of the other gods have any free time, so we thought we would send you to Camp Half-Blood. It's a camp for demigods; I'm sure you know what those are already, Aikaterine."

Huh. Camp Half-Blood, was it? What an interesting turn of events...

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**I keep forgetting to put this, but ALFONZOGIRL AND I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR ANYTHING THAT RICK RIODAN HAS MADE.**

**By the way, this was chapter written by me, Flyingtoasters! Aika's flash back will be concluded in her next chapter.**


	5. Chapter Tre

It was all anyone would talk about at camp. Finally, some kids got a quest! Percy got the official quest, and Annabeth and a satyr named Grover were the two that got to go with him. I wished I had gotten to know him better, because everyone wanted to go on a quest. Or at least most of us did. Maybe if I had known the kid he would've taken me with him.

I mulled it over in my mind as I practiced archery (as if I needed to) of how I could convince Chiron that I was good enough for a quest. Dylan's voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts as he said, "Dude, you'll never guess what just happened!"

I looked up at him as he grinned. I searched my mind of anything remotely exciting I had heard of besides the quest, and drew a blank. "I have no idea, Dylan" I told him as nonchalantly as I could as another arrow flew towards the target and hit right in the middle.

Dylan was almost jumping up and down at his point, "There's gonna be a new camper!" I looked at him like he was crazy. What was wrong with this guy? We got new campers all the time. This was nothing new. He seemed to sense that I was uninterested as I shot another arrow towards the target.

Dylan rolled his eyes and stepped in front of me so I couldn't keep shooting as he spoke to me, unless I wanted to hit him straight in the head (which I seriously thought about). "Dude," Dylan began, "It's a girl. A really hot girl. And she was dropped off by her godly parent, Demeter." Now that was interesting. Dropped off? No way. No demigod ever got dropped off at Camp by their actual godly parent. Never.

I quickly put my arrows where they belonged, and grabbed my own handcrafted bow. The bow went in the Apollo cabins, because it was one of the few things that I used that actually belonged to me. Apollo was a pretty cool dad, but he sometimes forgot his children. So I only had this one gift from him.

I followed Dylan to the main area where most demigods hung out when they weren't taking classes or training and all that. Sure enough, in the center of attention, there was some new girl. I couldn't see her too well. I only got a glimpse of her dark hair, and then a Demeter kid was smothering her with questions. Usually no one swarmed the new kids, they left them well alone so they could get used to the idea of being a demigod. Not in this case, obviously she knew she was a demigod, seeing as Demeter herself dropped her off.

I had to admit that I wanted to at least see the girl, and find out her story of how she got to camp. Then, I did see her. I had to blink. She looked exactly like Katrina. Her long, raven black hair was plaited up as a crown on the top of her head. She wore a string of bright marigolds in her hair. Katrina had hated marigolds. The girl had huge, innocent amber eyes that looked exactly like Kat's, and they shone with amusement at how excited everyone was to meet her. Her pale skin was a tiny bit rosy, because she was so flustered. She looked like a goddess. I guess she sort of was one, being demigod, but she looked like a real goddess. She even had a sort of glowing aura of power around her that only the gods had.

I was infuriated. How dare she remind me of Kat! I wanted to go up and punch her. But... But at the same time, I wanted to protect her. If anyone ever wanted to hurt this girl, I wanted to be the one who fought them off. This was he strangest I'd ever felt about anyone. I took off in a run.

"Dude!" Dylan shouted as I sped away from everyone. I didn't hear the rest of what he said, and I didn't want to. I wanted to remember Katrina in peace, by myself. I ran until my lungs were at a breaking point. I sat down next to a rock, which I recognized fleetingly as Zeus's Fist.

I sat there, just seething. Right after Katrina had died- no, been stolen, by Hades and Persephone, who knows why- was when I first came to Camp Half-Blood. I would rather she be alive than be here, with a bunch of demigods who didn't even know me, except for Dylan. That new kid, Percy Jackson, was more popular than I ever had been, and he hadn't been here even a quarter of the time I had.

I felt my eyes get teary, you know, in the manly way, when I heard a branch snap behind me. No no no no no... I thought, this CAN'T be happening to me! I pretended like I hadn't heard the branch. Maybe they'll go away, whoever they are.

They didn't. More leaves and branches snapping, getting louder as they came toward me. I was expecting Dylan, but I heard a strange female voice that asked, "Are you okay?" Even though it was a question, it sounded like the girl was lying. The voice was too innocent. I didn't want to look at the girl, because I felt like once whoever it was looked into my eyes, she would know all my secrets. I had always thought that I was a good liar, but this girl's voice put me to shame.

I didn't want to hear her voice again, and I didn't want to answer in the first place, so I didn't. "Did I do something wrong?" the voice asked. What?! The voice sounded like she could get away with anything. I sighed. This girl wouldn't leave me alone unless I replied to her, I could tell.

I looked up, and I saw the girl who looked like Kat. My Kat. The new-girl. There was something off about her, though. This girl looked at me in a way that I thought she was hiding something, like she was lying. I couldn't shake the feeling that she looked too innocent. "Yes," I said, I couldn't help myself, "you're everything wrong." I looked away. Why couldn't she see that I wanted to be left alone?

The girl didn't know what to do. She asked, "Do-do I know you?" I tried to look at her without glaring, but failed miserably. She looked really confused. She was probably really flustered, with it being her first day at Camp and all, and I wasn't helping. My gaze softened. She was even more confused than I was.

"No, you don't know me, but I do... I recognize you," I told her. She blinked. Her eyelashes were longer than Kat's had been. I winced at the thought. The girl came closer and sat next to me, gazing up at Zeus's Fist. We sat there, in a very awkward, long silence. Finally, the girl asked, "What is your name?"

"Liam," I replied. The girl gave a short gasp. "Liam...?" she said under her breath, seemingly to herself. "Yeah, do you know someone else with that name?" I asked. Why wouldn't she? It was a common name. "No," she said pointedly, "not someone else..." I sort of got the feeling she was lying, but with this girl, who knew?

I realized I still didn't know her name either. "Hey, uh, what's your name?" I asked. She blinked, as if calling it to her memory. "My name is Aikaterine," she told me. Aikaterine was very close to Katrina. The way she said her name, though, was like she was singing it, or recalling a poem. I shook my head to get out of the weird daze, and instead of telling her how beautiful her name was, I said, "Aikaterine is too long and awkward." The way I said her name didn't sound as nice as she had said it, either.

I could see I had hurt her feelings. Great job, Liam. Let's just go insulting every pretty girl we see, shall we? Wait, did I just think that she is pretty?! Well, she does look like Kat... I tried to cover my mishap up by saying, "I mean, it's...uh, it's a pretty name, and it's neat, but it's not too modern you know? Maybe something shorter like...like Aika. Yeah, I'll call you Aika." Wow. Face-palm. How awkward could one person get?

Aika smiled at my nickname for her. "I like that too," she told me. She tested it out on herself, "Aika...yes, that'll do." Well, at least I hadn't completely scared her off. Aika looked off into the distance, deep in thought, as she had a smile on her heart-shaped face.

Then I remembered that she was a special case. Demeter had dropped her off at camp. "So," I asked, "what happened with Demeter? How come she dropped you off? No one's godly parents care that much about them..." Aika blinked. "Well," she said, "Demeter cares about me. My other parent asked for her to drop me off. They- I mean he was worried about my safety."

I always liked to hear others' demigod stories. Not only because they were entertaining and I was curious, but it sort of made me feel better about myself. I wasn't as much a failure as some of the demigods here. "What's the situation with your dad, huh? Did you ever run away from home or anything?" She looked at me like I was crazy. As if she was thinking, "Why would I ever run away from my dad?"

She told me, "Not exactly... um... My parents- I mean my dad cares for me a lot... He, uh, he is a little...dark and sort of...cold... And a little scary. But he loves me. I stayed with him." What? She hadn't been miserable? At least a little bit? I mean, I loved my mom, but she didn't understand me, I didn't want to stay with her the rest of my life. Then I asked her, "Well, you had ADD or dyslexia or something, right?" She looked confused, as if she had no idea why I was even asking these questions. "Nope," she said.

This was too weird. "Well, you don't get restless or anything? You don't have any trouble reading? Do you know Ancient Greek?" I asked. She sighed. "Well... no, no, and yes. I don't get restless, I have no trouble reading, and I do know Ancient Greek," she admitted. I was dumbfounded. No dyslexia, no ADD, and she already knew Ancient Greek? Impossible.

"That's kind of...impossible," I told her. She looked scared now, her already large eyes widening to perfect circles. "I-it's not?" she squeaked. Oh no. I had scared her now. It wasn't that big of a deal, I guess.

"Uh, it's fine. Just weird. Usually demigods have either ADD, dyslexia, or both, and they have to work at least a little to learn Ancient Greek. I guess it's possible..." my voice trailed off unconvincingly.

Aika looked frightened still. She didn't quite understand this demigodishness, even though she knew she was a demigod. "How long have you known you were a demigod?" I asked. Her eyebrows raised, showing just how much detail was in her gorgeous amber eyes. "Um..." she said intelligently, "my whole life?" It sounded like a question.

That was insane. She knew she was a demigod her whole life? This was one strange girl, but I was at least mildly interested in her. I stood up, leaves sticking to my back and rear. I brushed them off and offered Aika my hand to help her up. She took it, and her hand fit my hand perfectly. I couldn't help holding it for a moment too long.

Aika seemed to sense that I was in a daze, so she gently took her hand away from mine. She looked pointedly away from my face, and blushed. I pretended I hadn't noticed, and suggested, "Let's get back to Camp." She nodded, and we walked in silence the entire way.

When we got there, to the strawberry fields, Dylan was waiting for me. "Dude," he began, "where the freak did you disappear to? You just missed the new girl, she left..." It was then when he seemed to realize who was behind me. I grinned at him sheepishly. No doubt he was super-confused, but I wasn't in the mood to explain anything to him.

Luckily, Aika spoke up behind me, "I saw him running away, and I wanted to know what was wrong..." I knew what we were both thinking. She had been the thing that was wrong. Not anymore though. Those few minutes we spoke, I became intrigued with her. I wanted to become her friend, find out all her mysteries.

Little did I know that she had much bigger secrets than she let on.

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**A whopping 2,180 words, this chapter was written by alfonzogirl. Of course, we don't own Rick Riordan, so it's not like we can hold Percy Jackson, Annabeth, and all those cool kids captive.**


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